Judge: Former Alexandria cop not entitled to qualified immunity in excessive force case

A former Alexandria police officer is not entitled to qualified immunity in the case of a man accusing him of excessive force, a federal judge has ruled.

Qualified immunity protects some public officials, including police officers from liability in civil lawsuits.

Former Lt. Kenneth Rachal was fired not long after Daquarious Brown filed the lawsuit in April 2020, although city officials refused to comment on the reasons why.

Brown accused Rachal of using excessive force during his March 19, 2019, arrest after a car and foot chase. The chase began when Rachal and three other Alexandria Police Department officers, who were seeking a burglary suspect, turned their attention Brown and two other men in a sport-utility vehicle.

The four officers approached the SUV with their guns drawn and without identifying themselves. One tried to open the driver's door, according to the lawsuit and U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph's July 21 ruling.

A chase ensued, during which Brown hit a truck waiting at a traffic light on MacArthur Drive. Brown ran when the chase ended, but Rachal followed, yelling for Brown to get on the ground and that he would shoot.

"Brown then stops running, turns toward Lt. Rachal, who was by now only a few feet away, and begins to move towards the ground," reads the ruling. "Despite Brown's apparent submission, Lt. Rachal continues running towards Brown and strikes him several times before handcuffing him."

Brown and two other men were arrested after the chase, and he eventually pleaded no contest to felony charges of aggravated flight from an officer and hit and run.

Joseph notes what Brown alleged — that Rachal used excessive force and violence while hitting him around his head and body with his pistol and then choked him when grabbing his jacket's hood and jerking him off the ground.

Brown claimed he suffered multiple physical and emotional injuries.

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Rachal has countered that his actions were reasonable and sought to have Brown's claims dismissed.

Joseph wrote it is "undisputed" that Brown never sought medical care for any injuries he claimed while in jail or since his release.

"The court has serious doubts about the extent of Brown’s injuries, if any," he wrote, stating Brown has not offered any other evidence to back up his claim of being injured.

But Joseph also noted another federal court set precedent that "all but eliminates" injury requirements when considering summary judgment.

Joseph wrote, based on Brown's statements and the video, "the court finds that a jury could reasonably conclude that Lt. Rachal struck an unresisting Brown on the head and body with his pistol.

"Such a use of force would be excessive and unreasonable."

Joseph also effectively released former police chief Jerrod King from the lawsuit, granting summary judgment to King for all the claims Brown made against him.

The city of Alexandria was granted summary judgment for some, but not all, of Brown's claims against it.

A trial has been set for Dec. 12.